3 ms·

I'm not a vet, I have a few marksmanship certifications and have participated on and off in combat sports. I'm a better shot than the average cop, statically sp

I'm not a vet, I have a few marksmanship certifications and have participated on and off in combat sports. I'm a better shot than the average cop, statically speaking, the marksmanship standards are fairly low for police. The issue is, I don't have a great deal of faith in society generally or the people who inhabit it. We couldn't even manage sharing the plentiful toilet paper resources available during the pandemic. The idea that the, to be frank, mostly obese often self proclaimed mentally ill masses are going to put forward a meaningful defence seems optimistic. Think of it this way; If you are right, I won't have needed any of this training or equipment. If I'm right, you'll wish you were as prepared as I am. The price of being wrong from my position is much lower than from yours.

ben_w 3y ago
> The idea that the, to be frank, mostly obese often self proclaimed mentally ill masses are going to put forward a meaningful defence seems optimistic. And they vote :P Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of dumb in society, and short term thinking does lead to bad choices in democratic elections; but normal people fund police and elect lawmakers — if they're doing it themselves that's called "mob justice" and generally ends badly. > The price of being wrong from my position is much lower than from yours Pascal's Mugging. I can make the same argument for everything that societies do, not just policing: healthcare, firefighting, military defence, food hygiene standards, workplace safety laws, vehicle maintenance requirements and emergency responders to make sure highways don't get blocked by breakdowns, … Some of those can't be done by individuals because of the way they scale, the rest you can be an expert at one or possibly two, so you can only be safe if someone else can fill in your gaps. So: if you're right, you're still in a hellscape despite your guns. My position is to try and aim for a world where society doesn't collapse. Not because I think it can't, but because I think it would be really bad if it does: there's so much more that needs to get done than any individual can manage, that we'd only survive by making a new society afterwards and dividing labour in similar ways, with law enforcement being a job rather than everyone's responsibility.

ben_w 3y ago

> The idea that the, to be frank, mostly obese often self proclaimed mentally ill masses are going to put forward a meaningful defence seems optimistic. And they vote :P Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of dumb in society, and short term thinking does lead to bad choices in democratic elections; but normal people fund police and elect lawmakers — if they're doing it themselves that's called "mob justice" and generally ends badly. > The price of being wrong from my position is much lower than from yours Pascal's Mugging. I can make the same argument for everything that societies do, not just policing: healthcare, firefighting, military defence, food hygiene standards, workplace safety laws, vehicle maintenance requirements and emergency responders to make sure highways don't get blocked by breakdowns, … Some of those can't be done by individuals because of the way they scale, the rest you can be an expert at one or possibly two, so you can only be safe if someone else can fill in your gaps. So: if you're right, you're still in a hellscape despite your guns. My position is to try and aim for a world where society doesn't collapse. Not because I think it can't, but because I think it would be really bad if it does: there's so much more that needs to get done than any individual can manage, that we'd only survive by making a new society afterwards and dividing labour in similar ways, with law enforcement being a job rather than everyone's responsibility.